Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 53: To ask the Minister for Agriculture; Fisheries and Food the extent to which he expects to facilitate the development of the fishing industry with the objective of maximising employment opportunities, protecting fish stock, creating opportunities for those involved in the fishing industry, banning the dumping of surplus catch and setting out a national strategy to bring about maximum benefits and economic value through increased employment in the industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17642/11]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Food Harvest 2020 sets out a national strategy for development of the seafood sector to maximise its considerable potential to contribute to national economic recovery and provide increased employment in peripheral coastal communities. The report identifies a potential to increase employment from 11,000 to 14,000 by 2020, while increasing the value of the sector to €1 billion. Action is recommended in a number of areas to achieve this goal, including encouraging foreign vessels to land their catch in Ireland to increase raw material supply to Irish processors and the provision of specific support programmes for the development of innovative, consumer oriented seafood products and the restructuring of the processing sector.

In 2010, BIM published its 3-year Strategy 'Delivering on the Potential of Irish Seafood'. The Strategy sets out over 70 detailed actions that underpin the opportunities for the Irish seafood sector.

On 3 June 2011, I announced the creation of 158 new jobs in the Seafood Processing Sector, arising from new investment of €7.4 million by 18 processing companies, supported by grants of €1.7 million under the Seafood Processing Business Investment Scheme. The Processing Scheme addresses the above recommendations of Food Harvest 2020 by providing support to seafood processing companies aiming to add value to Irish seafood products, improve efficiency, promote consolidation and create additional income and employment within the sector.

BIM also launched a new Seafood Value Adding Scheme in 2011 that will support seafood companies with projects that demonstrate a market lead business approach, including processing technology improvements, innovation and new product development. The scheme was developed by BIM in consultation with industry and aims to convert the high level of commodity seafood products into value-added products which meet high standards required within the retail and foodservice sectors in the domestic and export markets. BIM is expecting to support investment of up to €1 million in 2011 under this scheme.

BIM's Lean Seafood Business Programme is another important support Programme for the development of the seafood sector. This Programme seeks to identify how operating efficiencies can be maximised over a relative short time period to reduce the operating costs of seafood processing companies and assist them in improving their business performance and becoming more competitive. I understand that early participants in the Programme are achieving considerable cost savings.

Outside of the above schemes, on 3 June 2011 I also announced a pilot jobs initiative for the Killybegs region aimed at creating an additional 250 jobs in the area by 2014. As part of the pilot initiative a focused expert group has been tasked with identifying actions that can deliver those jobs, leveraging the talent, resources and infrastructure of the Killybegs area. The expert group will complete its work by the end of September 2011 and report to me on their progress and on the identified potential for job creation in Killybegs.

Since its opening in 2009, BIM's Seafood Development Centre in Clonakilty has been rightly lauded as a great success. The Centre has made considerable progress in driving seafood value-added activity. During 2010, over 180 seafood companies worked with the Centre, some of which have developed a range of successful new seafood products. BIM has set a target of achieving an additional €100 million worth of new seafood products over the next five years.

For the seafood processing sector to develop to its potential, an increased supply of raw material is essential. Food Harvest 2020 quite rightly identified the need to encourage foreign vessels to land their catch into Irish ports to increase raw material supply. Given the increasing cost of fuel for foreign vessels in returning their catch from our Atlantic waters to their home ports, I believe that the potential exists to develop Ireland as a European seafood-processing hub. BIM is actively working on this issue and is facilitating contact between the Irish processing industry and representatives of foreign fishing vessels.

Clearly, in the context of both raw material supply to our processing industry and the long term sustainability of our fisheries, measures to reduce and ultimately eliminate the wasteful and indefensible practice of discards is critical. I have been very active on this front and have had a series of discussions with fisheries Commissioner Damanaki, and fellow EU Fisheries Ministers on this topic, which is a major priority for me and for Ireland's vision for the new Common Fisheries Policy. I have been promoting practical and pragmatic measures which can demonstrably deliver on the shared objective of elimination of discards, while importantly having the maximum possible level of "buy in" from the industry. It is my firm belief that a "tool box" of flexible measures that can be implemented, where appropriate, on a fishery by fishery basis, is the best possible option.